IT'S A...

BABY!!!

Cruel, I know, and not like me to tease. But now you know as much information as we do! Yes, it's true, we will not be finding out the sex of baby #3 until he/she makes his/her arrival in February. It's funny, when I tell people that we aren't finding out the sex of this baby, I get one of two very enthusiastic responses:

1) Oh, that is awesome! I wish I had/I want to do/I did do that with my kid(s)!

or

2) What?! Why?! That's going to drive me crazy!

The second response always makes me laugh because it should drive ME crazy being the mom, right?! Yet it's driving others crazy :) I should've expected this since we kept the boys' names a secret until they were born (which drove family and friends bonkers). And yes, we will keep the tradition running strong with this one! Maybe we have names picked out...and maybe we don't. Ok, I'll throw you a *small* bone, we're fairly certain we have decided on the names (one for a boy and one for a girl), but my lips are sealed...don't hit me!


Here is another pic from yesterday's sono...the little bugger was stubborn & wouldn't give us a good face shot but he/she did give us a high-five!

So, why do we (or mostly I) not want to find out this time when we found out with both the boys? I think there is something special and a bit romantic about waiting nine whole months to have that moment of excitement in the delivery room! And with the boys we were in a different place in our life where we felt we needed to be able to plan ahead. This time, baby #3 was a huge surprise in itself :)


And another pic with a thumbs-up (or the hitchhiker thumb LOL!)!

And to answer a commonly-asked question, I really do not have a preference on what I want it to be...a boy would be great, we think we have the boy-thing down(along with all the boy "stuff") and a girl would be fun because it would be something different! Also, I really have NOT A CLUE as to what we're having...I keep joking that it's a boy but we'll see...the ultrasound tech didn't even bother to look so she nor my doctor knows what we're having! It's gonna be fun!!!

Fiber, it's what's for dinner

Owen Owen Owen (as I shake my head). The boy will pass up mashed potatoes, steak, chicken, mac & cheese, pbj, you name it...kid-favorite or adult-favorite, he'll pass it up at dinner. Then he wants down from the table to promptly go to the bowl of food that he really wants...the dog food. Yes, my son passes up a great meal to eat dog food. Gross! I actually caught him eating it the other night WITH A SPOON! He must've grabbed the spoon from the dishwasher while we were cleaning up. And then one day after lunch, Cole was handing a piece of dog food, one at a time to Owen and to Zoe and feeding them "lunch." Hey, with all that fiber it keeps him regular, right?! And then there is Cole. I can summarize his eating habits into one word...picky. I shouldn't expect any less considering he comes from a family of picky eaters, especially myself! But he loves his milk!

So here's a recipe that we LOVE, even Owen! It's one of my favorites from my Grandma Mayfield and super quick and easy (works best if you prepare it during naptime and that way it can simmer until you're ready to serve dinner):

Hamburger Soup (for my vegetarian friends, you can substitute a couple of things to make it Tofu/Veggie Soup)

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp butter
1-1/2 lbs hamburger meat (or ground turkey for a healtheir option or tofu for even healthier)
3-4 carrots cut diagonally
3 ribs of celery sliced
2 cans beef buillion (or beef stock or vegetable stock)
1 can onion soup (I buy the packet of onion soup & fix it before throwing it into the recipe)
1 small head of cabbage, shredded
1 can tomatoes, including the juice
1 bay leaf
2 cups water

Instructions:
Melt the butter and saute the carrots & celery (I do this in my stock pot)
Meanwhile, brown the meat (or sliced tofu) and drain any excess fat
Throw everything into a large pot and simmer for a couple of hours or until veggies are soft or you're ready to eat. If it starts to lose too much liquid, just add a cup of water.

*Forgive there being no picture. I have a hard enough time getting pictures of my kids!

I serve with French bread & a salad. And believe it or not, Owen scarfed down a bowl of it and especially liked the veggies :)

Bad habits die hard

I have this "leftover" habit from college where I read multiple books all at the same time. I call it a "bad" habit because it takes me forever to finish just one book :) Here's a picture of my current reading list...


...all but two I am halfway through...eek! The other two I would like to read before baby #3 makes his/her arrival. You see, I spent a little over 10 years in college. Yes, ten. For the curious cats out there, I studied full-time for five years to earn my Bachelors degree (Texas and it's extra government/history requirements), I studied part-time for two & a half years for Nursing School pre-requisites and then again full-time for three years to earn my RN and Master's degree. So, over those 10 years, I continuously read multiple books for my classes. I suppose I haven't dropped the habit yet :) Here's my current reading list:

1. Bible (life application) by God
2. Boundaries (already read it once, needed a refresher) by Cloud & Townsend
3. Know the Bible in 30 Days by Lang
4. Understanding your Child's Temperament by Carey
5. Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey by Demer & Wheeler
6. Touchpoints (another re-read, keeping up with the development of each boy) by Brazelton
7. Your Journey Through Pregnancy (my insurance company sent me this, I'd like to read it) by UHC
8. A Guide to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth (a book from Nursing school-another want-to-read) by Enkin et al

I try to read books to the boys, but with my scatterbrain self, I don't always think to read to them (does that make me an awful mom?!). Oftentimes the boys go get books on their own and bring them to us. I love it! Who knew that children at such a young age would be so interested in books? And Cole loves to choose books from the public library while Owen just squeaks and squawks as he wanders aimlessly among the shelves and tables and chairs. Cole's favorite book is Trucks (and he's learned what a fender, hopper, chute, etc. are on big rigs, cement trucks, etc). Owen's favorite book is a Mickey Mouse book (mostly because he gets to push buttons that make noise). I hope they continue their love of books. There's so much to learn and enjoy by reading! We're always looking for good books to add to our home library, so what are your kid(s) favorite book(s)?




And I just had to post a couple of cutie pie pictures...

pERgnancy

So, this week we realized that with each pregnancy, I have landed in the ER for some reason or another. With Cole, I had a very persistent pain one night that turned out to be gall bladder spasms. And with Owen, I came down with an awful stomach bug (actually thought it was the beginnings of horrid morning sickness...oh the irony) and landed in the ER for fluid and phenergan. And this baby, well, its no exception. On Monday, I tried my best to avoid going to the ER, even went to Urgent Care first hoping to resolve the issue. But alas, the Urgent Care doc (and my OB) sent me to the ER. Darn. After lots of tests and an 8-hour ordeal, it was determined I had an infection and was dehydrated from the awful morning sickness. The combination of those created some symptoms that indicated something else could have seriously been wrong. I'm so thankful that it was simply an infection and dehydration. So, I got some fluids, antibiotics and once again, anti-nausea meds. Anyways, we got a laugh out of my pERgnancy visits. And I would like to thank my family and friends who stepped up to care for the boys, feed us dinner and call to check on me this past week, I appreciate all the kind gestures and feel very loved :)

Talk about emergency (ok, not really), but Owen is my little daredevil. He pretends that he's going to propel himself down a slide head-first (I just know that one of these days he's actually going to do it too)! He climbs, he gets into things he shouldn't, he's stuck his finger in an outlet and gotten shocked...actually, he sounds like most toddlers, right?! Well, I was in the laundry room last week and kept hearing this odd noise. I peeked my head around the corner into the bathroom to find Owen, with one of those huge plastic straws (like from the cups you get at the fair or zoo) DRINKING WATER OUT OF THE TOILET! Oh. My. Goodness. It was one of those moments where I thought "do I call poison control?!" I had a mommy freak-out moment! I realized the toilet had been flushed, so the water was "clean" (ewww) and I don't use those things that stick to the toilet and continually have cleaner in them, so I figured he'd probably be ok and I didn't need to call the doctor or poison control. He didn't have any tummy issues or grow a third arm or anything...yet! But I'm still totally grossed out!
Here's my little daredevil chasing me because he wanted to play with the camera...and he's mad...


And you would think there is an emergency when Cole says something and we don't understand. You see, Cole in just the last couple of months began putting sentences together. I can understand most of what he says, but sometimes he has to say it two or three times for me to get it. And boy, when I don't understand it right away he gets M-A-D! He kept saying "I light on" or that's what I thought. He got impatient with me after a few attempts and finally went quiet and wouldn't talk to me. Kids! He tried again and I finally understood "I like some!" Aha! He wanted a bite of my snack :) That's part of being a parent, having to interpret toddler-speak and deal with the short fuse of a 2-year old!

Giving thanks

Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

*I intended to post this last Monday, but I was far from feeling well and the post just wasn't appropriate at the time ;)*

So, maybe I should've saved this one for the Thanksgiving holiday, but why not celebrate a little early?! It is my second-favorite holiday. This week I would like to give thanks to the good Lord for getting me to the 16-week mark. I can't believe I am almost halfway through this pregnancy already! I also want to give thanks to my family and friends who have prayed for me, checked in on me, made me laugh and have supported me over the last 10-11 weeks as I experienced some super duper morning sickness (or "suckness" if you read my earlier post). *Fingers crossed* I believe I am past the worst of it! And for that, I am very thankful.

Here is me at 16-weeks with baby #3...there is no hiding a 3rd pregnancy :P

More about giving thanks: we feel it is important for our kids to learn manners *gasp*! There are so many kids (and adults) today that just flat-out do not have manners. We may be in the minority by saying "please" and "thank you" for the simplest things, however, I think it is very important to always give thanks for what we are given, no matter how big or small. It was a proud day for me recently when Cole began saying "please" and "thank you" without any prompting from daddy or myself!!! I had to stop and just let myself smile :) Now he gets VERY upset if he says "thank you, momma" and I don't reply promptly with a "you're welcome." I mean very. Upset. It's kinda cute, actually. And Owen, well, his first true words after "dadda" were "thank you, momma." That was the ONLY way I could get him to say "momma!" LOL! Now he hardly says anything besides "dadda" and "dis" ("this" as he points to what he wants). He's more focused on getting his waddle-y/penguin-like walk down to a science versus learning to talk! That's my boy!

Here is my sweet Owen, he grabbed the camera and I found some very blurry pics on there!


And here are my sweet sweet boys on their first day of Mother's Day Out...what a blessing that is for a SAHM!

Anywho, may you find your life full of moments and blessings to give thanks for :)

The Chesser Family Whirlwind Tour

It's been almost two years...actually, 22 months to be exact...since we made our big move from Austin, TX to Tulsa, OK. We didn't make a trip last year as we had hoped, and needless to say, we were long overdue for a visit! So, we planned a long weekend vacation over Labor Day and drove to Texas with the boys in tow. We left on a Thursday evening and arrived back home, dark and early at 2:00am on Tuesday morning. We stopped in three cities-Dallas, Austin, San Antonio-and visited with over 40 friends in our short trip. I would call it a success! We had a wonderful time and are so glad we had the opportunity to go back, catch up with some fantastic friends and visit one of our favorite places in the world...Longhorn Country! For being stuck in car seats in the car for some 10 hours each way, the boys did awesome! Want to know our secret? It was snacks, fruit boxes, toys (mostly those that made noise and lit up), books (also those that made noise), a very silly mommy (aka Me) and a DVD player (however the brand-new thing pooped out on us in San Antonio, so our trip back was sans-DVD player but we survived!). Also breaking up the trip on the way down there and then driving back at night while they were sleeping helped a lot. Along with catching up with friends, we enjoyed some much-needed family time and had some fun silly times together :) Here are some of the highlights of traveling with our toddlers:




~ Cole had some of the funniest things to say on our trip. It gets bumpy along Hwy-75 and one bump sent us bouncing up & down, and out of nowhere Cole replied with a loud "whoops!" Had us rolling! Later, as the sun set during our drive, Cole told us it was "getting dark and don't be skeered (scared)." So cute! He also told Craig to "not go faster." What? Is this really my kid? I love to go fast! And my favorite Cole-ism of the trip was calling our friend's dog "Grandpa"...his name is "Rambo" LOL!

~Oh the joys of a potty-training toddler. As we're attempting to enjoy a lunch with some friends and their little one (the boys were getting very restless by this point), I saw the look on Cole's face that says "I have to poop." I thought to myself "crap" (appropriate, huh!). We go running to the bathroom to discover the only Ladies room is locked. Crap. Again. So I said "to heck with it, we're going in the Men's bathroom." Must say that was a first. Whatever it takes when you have kids!




~And then there's Owen. My sweet, cranky, stubborn Owen. He refused to sleep the first night when we were in Dallas. Seriously, because of him, all four of us only got two hours of sleep that night. He was much better the remainder of the trip. I think he was just excited to be in a new place! And boy that kid can eat! He even ate the salsa at Chuy's (which is rather spicy!). It sure gave us and our friends a good laugh to watch the expression on his face! He is so ticklish too, if he started to get fussy in the car, all I had to do was tickle him and it made us all laugh! Such a contagious laugh and smile!

~Cole is obsessed with trains. Points out every railroad crossing or train that we see. Owen is right behind him in loving trains (although I think it's more to do with the fact that Big Brother loves them...so sweet!). Since we were visiting Austin, we decided to take them on a ride on the commuter rail. This was a huge project that Craig worked tirelessly on before we moved. The project finished up in October of 2009, but the rail didn't officially open until the following Spring, so Craig never got to see the finished project in action. Let me say it was a very special moment for him to see the commuter rail in person and to ride along with his train-loving boys!




~One of the best moments was when we were leaving campus and Craig says "someone is taking a picture of us!" Come to find out, a car behind us and in the other lane had backed up, the passenger pulled out her iPhone and they were taking a picture of our Oklahoma license plate that says "Hook Em." Yup, if you see that license plate around town, that's us!

It was a wonderful trip and we're so thankful to have seen everyone, we truly feel blessed to know each of you! Next time we will try to make the trip longer so we can visit with everyone and those friends that we missed this time around. Happy vacationing!

Self-discipline

2 Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

Multitasking (MTI). It's a beautiful thing. When you actually accomplish something! I wrote a post when Owen was a newborn, something about breastfeeding while doing two or three other things and I asked if it was MTI (multitasking) or TMI (too much information)?! LOL! As moms we have to MTI. Answer the phone while changing a diaper and letting the dog outside. Or folding laundry with one hand while holding a baby in the other and changing the channel to entertain the toddler. Problem is, my MTI doesn't get anything accomplished anymore! At the end of the day, all I have are half-completed chores all around my house. And yesterday I couldn't remember what year it was...seriously. I was filling out our enrollment forms for gymnastics while trying to keep the boys entertained and looking up our pediatrician's phone number (for the paperwork) and honest to goodness could NOT remember what year it was. Yikes! I was so embarrassed and overwhelmed at that moment that I didn't dare ask someone what year it was! Thankfully the paperwork said "For the year 2011-2012"...whew! Once upon a time I rocked at MTI. At my first "real" job after graduating college, I could answer the phone all while typing up a note in a student's file and grabbing handouts for another student standing in my office. And I think I did a fairly good job at it! Not anymore, I really think I have developed ADD since becoming a mom. Problem is, I get started on something just to get interrupted shortly into the task and then I forget to return to finish it. Or I start a chore and notice something else that needs attention and is a higher priority. So, my house is always halfway cleaned, laundry halfway done, two hours worth of ironing piled up, clean dishes still in the dishwasher, etc. etc. etc. So, I've decided it's time to change it (or at least try)! There is some psychology behind this (yes, I'm a bit of a psych nerd) and I wanted to choose a goal that I considered "easy" so that I would have a quick success to keep myself motivated for change. However, I always bite off more than I can chew so I told myself to pick one goal for this week. So, what do I do? I chose two. It's just one of my quirks...to be an overachiever :) My goals for this week were to 1) plan out my week by writing down specific to-do's on specific days, and 2) really focus on keeping the house picked up by cleaning up after ourselves and doing a quick pick-up after the kids go to bed. So far I've been doing ok. I've been marking off my to-do's like never before and the house is somewhat picked up *wink* I would give myself a "B"...I think I would've been more successful had I just stuck with ONE goal this week LOL! I believe it all comes down to self-discipline and setting realistic goals and I think it's going to be a lifelong work in progress!






So, onto the boys! They are truly so much fun. On most days. Cole is working on his vocabulary, he still pronounces "octopus" as "applesauce" and gives a really awesome attempt at "hippopotamus!" It's interesting to watch a child in the two-to-three year old stage. I always thought the "terrible two's" meant the child continuously misbehaved throughout the 2nd-3rd year of life. Instead we are more like on a roller coaster ride. Sometimes it's smooth sailing, he behaves well, he's sweet and caring and minds. Other times we are up and down with tantrums and back-talking and just down-right bad behavior. It's interesting to watch them grow because you know they are developing and learning about their boundaries when they begin to misbehave...I see his little mind asking "how far can I go with this and what can I get away with?" Toddlers are confusing...one moment he's kissing baby brother good night and the next he's coloring in the white flower on my rug with a pink marker. Thank goodness it's a washable marker! I seriously wonder what possesses them to do these things?!?! LOL! And Owen is our little eater! The kid eats everything and won't turn down any chance for a snack :) He's at the stage between baby and toddler where everyone stops to talk to him (he's still got that cute baby-ness about him, yes I made up a word, but he's not quite to that obnoxious toddler stage that strangers run from)! And he just eats it up! He's not really saying many words besides "Papa!" I remember Cole doing this too...he started saying words and then completely stopped. Owen was saying "thank you" "mama" "dada" "zoe" "dog" but now he's back to babbling and pointing (he points at my dad and says "Papa" at least!). He keeps us entertained and on our toes (he gets into things faster than I can blink an eye-he threw his blankie into my mop bucket this morning and now it smells like vinegar...pretty sure he won't want to sleep with that!). He also LOVES his big brother, wants to be just like him and do everything he does...I think it's sweet. Cole can't stand it! And yes, I signed them up for gymnastics. You're probably thinking "boys...in gymnastics?" I say, "why not?!?!" My sister-in-law first introduced the idea to us when she enrolled our nephew in it several years ago and then we attended a few parties at Tulsa World of Gymnastics and they loved it! We tried out a class for free yesterday and I had to DRAG them both out, both protesting, both wanting to stay and play! Totally worth it to me to see them so excited over an activity! Anyways, here are a couple pics (please forgive my terrible photo-taking abilities):